As a visual spectacle, this certainly hits the spot with vast desert vistas, ferocious sand storms, giant worms, huge sand crawlers, and a stark monochrome view of the Harkonnen home world that looks like a cross between a Nuremberg rally and the Roman Colosseum. Impressive stuff.
The story covers the important beats from the book, but requires a bit of attention with important details being skirted over or just alluded too. Frank Herbert’s book was notable for being one of the first SF novels where the ecology of a planet shaped the whole story, but the whole sandworm lifecycle isn’t really explained here.
Instead Villeneuve focusses on the theme of religious fundamentalism, with the nature of belief and prophecy being examined. For all of Paul’s initial reluctance to step into the role of a messiah there is never much doubt of where he will go. It all feels a little bit like a white saviour trope playing on the credulous nature of the simple Fremen peasants. The repeated description of the southern tribes as ‘fundamentalists’ was jarring and did not feel at all nuanced.
Perhaps the final film will look more at how a character who literally has godlike omnipotence will feel about the effects of galactic holy war waged in his name?
